The apostle Paul had a consuming passion to see more and more people come to know the salvation that Jesus Christ offers. He lived a life of self-denial and sacrifice, a life of service to others, in order to see souls saved. He did whatever he lawfully could do, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to make the gospel known to as many people as possible. Is this our mindset today? Do we have this same overwhelming desire to see souls saved?

The National Center for Family Integrated Churches welcomes Jeff Pollard with the following message entitled, All Things to all men. If you would please open your Bibles with me to 1st Corinthians chapter 9. 1st Corinthians chapter 9. 9. If you would please stand with me, we're going to read the Word of God.

God in His mercy has given us, preserved for us, His blessed text. So let's give our hearts and minds to reading 1 Corinthians chapter 9 beginning in verse 19 and we will read through verse 23. Let us hear the word of God. For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I may gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews, To them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law.

To them that are without law, as without law, being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak. I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some and this I do for the gospel's sake that I might be partaker thereof with you amen may the Lord and His blessing to the reading of His good word. Now let's unite our hearts in prayer. Father in heaven, we praise and thank Thee for the blessings that Thou hast showered upon us today in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We thank Thee that we can meet in that holy name, and I praise and thank Thee for all those that Thou in Thy goodness and wisdom hast brought here this morning. I pray, O God, that we might know Thy presence, that we might know the power of Thy Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ would be exalted, and that His holy Word would be handled in a way that is glorifying to thee and edifying to thy people. And we ask it all in the name of Christ, amen. Please be seated. The burning desire of Paul's heart was the conversion of Jews and Gentiles.

He testified both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts chapter 20 verse 21, He loved His Jewish brethren, For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." Nevertheless, Paul also knew that by the miraculous appointment of God and Christ, He was the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. Now as he testified before King Agrippa, Paul said that Christ sent him to Jew and Gentile, that they may receive the forgiveness of sins. And then he said, I was not disobedient. I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

Acts 26 and 18, 19. Obedience to the Heavenly vision. Now this is what drove Paul's ministry. His heart blazing for the salvation of sinners. That great heart declared, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

However, Jews and Gentiles were radically different in their cultures, their thinking, their practices, their worldview. Each had a different problem with the gospel. But we preach Christ. Christ crucified, said Paul. Under the Jews, a stumbling block.

And under the Gentiles, foolishness. How would he get the saving message of Christ crucified and Christ resurrected to such radically different groups? He could not and He would not change the message. This was unthinkable to Him and it was unacceptable to God. His strategy was clear, biblical, and in harmony with the gospel itself.

He would deny himself, he would deny certain rights that he had in Christ, and He would become all things to all men. But what did He mean by that? To answer this question, we must first understand the context of his declaration, then we will consider an exposition of his declaration, and finally make some applications of his declaration. Now we might refer to this declaration, all things for all men, as Paul's self-denying, gospel-driven flexibility. Self-denying, gospel-driven flexibility.

May the Lord Jesus Christ grant us the power, the power and the light of His Holy Spirit then as we consider first the context of Paul's self-denying, gospel-driven flexibility. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles. The resurrected Lord Jesus Christ sent him into a pagan world of gods and goddesses, temples and shrines. Paul gave his testimony in the temple at Jerusalem, testifying that Christ said to him, Depart, For I will send thee far unto the Gentiles." Now one of the problems that new converts in the Greco-Roman Gentile world that they faced was food offered to idols. We see a few passages regarding this occasionally, and it usually is brought up in the context of, can I go to the movies or not?

And we often really don't understand the weight of the problem, nor the importance of the solution that is set before us here. These passages are often very greatly understood, especially by modern American Christians who want to take as much part in the culture as they can and still feel comfortable that they're going to heaven. Now when we take these things into consideration, and as we see them in their context, we begin to see that we're dealing with a life-transforming issue. The apostles, the elders, and the church in Jerusalem had sent a letter to the Gentile brethren in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, exhorting them that ye abstain from meats offered to idols." Acts 15, 29. Now this was a serious problem in Christ's churches.

A very serious problem indeed. Christ Himself said to the church at Pergamos, I have a few things against thee." Brethren, can any of us imagine the resurrected Lord of glory saying, I have some problems with you? One of the reasons was false teachers who taught the church to eat things sacrificed to idols. This is not a small matter. If the Holy Spirit inscribed forever in the infallible Scriptures that Christ rebuked His blood-bought bride for this matter.

Likewise, Christ rebuked Thyatira because they allowed that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants, to eat things sacrificed to idols. The challenges to early Christians were enormous. Enormous. Everyday life overflowed with occasions for eating in connection with idols. Listen, everyday life.

There were opportunities to eat in connection some way with an idol or on temple grounds. Just as churches in our day rent out a church hall, a church building for certain meetings, certainly in those days temples were used much the same way, and there were gatherings, family gatherings, all kinds of business meetings. They were connected to the temples and to the gods and goddesses of their cultures. In Paul's day, civic and social life were bound up with gods and goddesses because religion and politics were inseparable. Trade guilds were essential to economic success in many cities.

So it was important for one's livelihood to participate in the guild meals. Your daily life, Your business, very often its success or even failure was connected to the guilds that met in the temple grounds for their meals and their business deals. We often do not realize how every aspect of life in the Greco-Roman world was permeated, permeated with idolatry. Trade gills were essential to economic success in many cities, so that it was very much important to be attached to the right groups and gods and goddesses. Now if every man here had to face the notion that regardless of his own beliefs, his business deals were always going to be held down at the Buddhist temple in town, or a Hindu temple, or some pagan place, what kind of pressure would that put on you?

The Greek philosopher Plutarch wrote, It is not the abundance of wine or the roasting of meat that makes the joy of festivals, but the good hope and belief that the God is present in His kindness and graciously accepts what is offered. R.A. McMullin writes in Paganism and the Roman Empire, religion must be placed at the heart of cultural activities of every sort. For most people to have a good time with their friends involved some contact with a God who served as guest of honor, as master of ceremonies, or of the hosts in the porticoes or flowering shaded grounds of His own dwelling, meaning the temple. Most people or foremost people, meat was a thing never eaten and wine to serve it never drunk, save as some religious setting permitted." That's pretty comprehensive.

Anybody that has lived in a foreign country that is truly heathen, pagan, understands this far better than Americans. Now with this in mind, we need to understand that the passage that we have just read lies almost in the middle of 1 Corinthians 8 through 1 Corinthians 11 verse 1. Paul there gives one long, complex argument, and it takes a number of readings to begin to realize what he's saying and why. We don't have time to do an exposition of all three of those chapters, but it would certainly help. Now Paul begins, I'm going to give us just a very, very, very brief summary of chapter 8 and into the passage that we are considering today.

We want to begin here. In chapter 8 verses 1-6, Paul establishes common ground between the Corinthians and him in this knowledge. There is one true God and idols are nothing. That's the knowledge. There's one true God and idols are nothing.

The Corinthians believe that. Paul believed that. He then warns them that knowledge can lead to pride, but love edifies. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. That's the idea.

And those foundational notions flow through, undergird, permeate all three of these chapters. These introduce his argument. Knowledge can make you a mental blowfish, can give you a fat head, can make you arrogant, but love edifies. And that's what Paul is driving at here. This is going to undergird all of this.

So the idea of love and pride runs right through these three chapters, along with the primary idea of self-denial. Listen, primary idea, self-denial. If you miss that, you miss the argument. So with that in mind, in chapter 8 verses 7 through 13, some Christians with weak consciences could not separate in their minds meat that God created from idols that man created. Having the knowledge that idols were nothing, some Corinthian Christians believed it their liberty to eat food offered to idols within temple precincts.

It's clear after a few readings, as Paul is writing to them, they are arguing with him, and he is answering them. He's begun by laying the foundation regarding pride and love, and now He's going to address the notion that they have a liberty to eat in the temple. Having the knowledge that idols were nothing could become a pretext for falling back into idolatry. Paul had made clear that liberty used this way was a sin against Christ. Men that could say, look, I can go and I can eat in the temple.

Well, why do you think you can eat there in the temple? Well, because first of all, God created everything and He created the cows. It's just a piece of meat and there's just one true God and the idols are nothing. Therefore, With that knowledge in mind, I can go eat. Paul says, but you may set an example for a weaker brother that will destroy him.

And that's an Unthinkable thought to Paul. A believer is Christ's work. Therefore Paul wants it to be clearly understood that those who have this liberty, or at least believe that they do, could embolden a weaker brother to eat in the temple, defile his conscience, and perhaps fall back into the idolatry out of which he had been rescued. Rescued. Paganism is always attempting to seep into the churches of Jesus Christ.

In one way we can say that the history of mankind has simply been the battle between God's people and the devil's people, between a biblical faith and heathenism. And throughout history, we constantly see the clash. And it's right here in Corinth, as Paul is speaking to these brethren who are quite sure that since the idols are nothing, they can go to the temple. Let me tell you what, a lot of people reason like that today. I can live like the world because..." and give their reasoning, because they're thinking about themselves and what they want to do, rather than their brothers and sisters in Christ.

And that's the heart of Paul's argument. Love for God's people. And how do we manifest it? In self-denial. Now, as we enter chapter 9, verses 1 through 18, Paul illustrated from his own life, his own life, the idea of denying one's rights for the well-being of others.

As he enters into his argument, he sets himself up as the example. He made the point that as an apostle to the Corinthians, he had rights. If you've ever read chapter 9 and wonder, what is Paul talking about? What he's saying is, you think that you have some rights. Well, I'm an apostle.

I have some rights. As God's appointed apostle, I have real God-appointed rights. And one of those rights is to be supported by the Corinthians. And he backs up his argument with Scripture. Supporting this from the Word of God, Paul tells them that he has never used that right.

He never used that right with them because he would rather suffer anything. He would rather die. He would rather die than be an obstacle in the way of Christ's gospel. Denying yourself is not a little thing, and it is one of the major sins of the American church. Jesus Christ said, we cannot be His disciple unless we deny ourselves.

That immediately puts us under a very serious biblical microscope. This is not an option. It is not an option. Self-denial of God-given rights for the salvation of others, or for the well-being of others, is Paul's theme. Let me repeat that.

Self-denial of God-given rights for the salvation of others is Paul's theme. That brings us to the exposition of Paul's self-denying, gospel-driven flexibility. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, If any man will come after Me, let him deny Himself, and listen, take up His cross daily. Take up His cross daily and follow Me. Now this passage reveals Paul living this precept, living this principle consistently.

What you're seeing is remarkable here. Consider first Paul's freedom and slavery. Paul's freedom and slavery. Chapter 9 verse 19a, Paul makes a general and paradoxical statement. For though I be free from all men yet, have I made myself servant unto all." Notice, he didn't say, the Lord put him in a headlock and made him love and serve these people.

That's not the idea. I have made myself servant unto all. Now how can a person be free from all and a slave to all? Paul's strategy here does not arise out of pragmatism. This is solid biblical principle.

It is a Holy Spirit-wrought expression of Christ's life in Paul's life. The Holy Spirit wrought expression of Christ's life in Paul's life. And so it should be for every one of us that are His children. Now let's work on this thought for just a minute. Galatians 2, chapter 2, verse 20, will help us understand what Paul is saying.

He says, I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet, not I, yet, not I, but Christ liveth in me." Christianity is supernatural. Christianity is not simply one of the world religions or a great philosophy. It is indeed a supernatural existence. A Christian is someone who has been made alive by the power of the world to come, God's Spirit entering the human soul, renewing it and turning it Godward.

And that's why Paul can say, Christ dwells in me, And the life I'm now living is just an expression of that. Now what Paul is getting at here is that he lived in union with the resurrected Lord Jesus. And what do we know about Christ? What do we know about Him and His life? Well, we know that Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh who dwelt among us.

He denied Himself the glories of heaven and came down into the cesspool of this world. He, The eternal Son of God, always in holy, blessed, loving union with His Father, came into this world. The one who made it and sustains it became flesh and dwelled among us. He is God's eternal Son who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of what? A servant.

The eternal Son of God made Himself a slave to fallen, sinful, depraved people. Fallen, sinful, depraved people. He was made in the likeness of men. He did this to keep the law that His people had broken. He did this to die upon Calvary's cross, paying the penalty for all their law breaking.

And He rose again the third day in glory and in triumph that they might ever have everlasting life and have resurrection into glory themselves. This was the greatest act of self-denial in the history of the universe. God come down, made flesh, and dying in the place of rebellious people. People that didn't love Him, didn't love His laws, didn't care about Him. His own people even killed Him.

I could stop there and just say, let's worship the Lord all the rest of our days. That's who Christ was in union with. That was the life that dwelled within his heart. Now with this in mind, Paul could say even though I'm Christ's free man, bought by the blood of the Lamb, he denied himself as Christ did and became a servant, a slave of all. Now why did he do this?

Why did he do this? Well, let's consider Paul's reason for slavery. Why did Paul use his blood-bought freedom to make himself a slave to all people? And that means all kinds of people, all manner of people. He himself answers, that I may gain the more.

That's what's driving him. That's the fire burning in His heart that I may gain the more, that I might win them. If we want to understand what makes Paul tick, here it is. He enslaved himself to all kinds of people to win more and more souls to Jesus Christ. Now this permeates five verses out of 19 through 23.

He said that I might gain the Jews, again, that I might gain them that are under the law. Verse 21, that I might gain them that are without law. Verse 22, that I might gain the weak. Verse 23, that I might by all means save some. Here again is the life of Christ in the soul of a man shining in its immortal beauty.

Jesus said, For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. And that is what Paul is doing here with all his heart. As his Savior denied himself for the unworthy, and as he gave himself a servant to all, and as he died for them, Paul did the same to seek and save that which was lost at his own cost, even if it meant his life. That's what drove him. Christ had commissioned him.

And he was going to die in Christ's commission. That was his purpose. Now, he became a slave so that others might become free. Free. He denied his life so that others might gain life.

And who is his example in this? Even Christ pleased not himself. Romans 15, 3. Everyone here knows that we live in a culture that worships self. It's all about me and my conveniences, my pleasures, and tragically with many Christians, that idea comes over And it becomes, it's my liberty.

And Paul is standing and looking at your liberty and saying, it is not worth the soul of another human being. It is not worth Someone falling away from the Lord Jesus. Now, Paul became flexible then for those under the law. These are examples that he gives us of his own self-denial. He's teaching the Corinthians in a most lovely way.

He didn't say, you bunch of hard heads, you just came out of paganism and you don't get it yet. He could have and that's the way some preachers preach. But he's given himself as an example and said, I have rights, but I deny them, so that others might be saved. And let me tell you about some of the kinds of people that I deny myself for. He's not tooting his own horn, because he's gonna finish this entire argument in chapter 11 verse 1 saying, now, follow me as I follow Christ.

You do the same thing. So we have examples of that teaching. Chapter 9 verse 20, the apostle declares, "'And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews, to them that are under the law as under the law that I might gain them that are under the law." Now this is one of Paul's truly remarkable statements. How can a man who is a Jew become as a Jew? You ever thought that when you read that passage?

How does a man who is a Jew, how does he become as a Jew? Paul described himself to the Philippians, circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the law of Pharisee. You cannot be more Jewish than that. So how does a Hebrew of the Hebrew become as a Jew to the Jews? Well we're going to answer that question.

And the answer lies in the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is speaking from the position that he sets forth in Galatians chapter 3 verse 27 and 28. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." Paul is speaking about living like he used to, but he's not that anymore.

So he becomes, as a Jew, to the Jews. He is now in Christ under a new and better covenant. He knows what the Lord saved Him out of. Now, Paul is speaking as a Christian in union with Jesus the mediator, the mediator of the new covenant, the better covenant, and in Christ he is no longer under the Old Covenant. So to witness to the Jews, He has to do an about-face on some things.

They're things He knows very well, but He's left them behind. So in order to witness to his own people, he submits himself to their ordinances again. Listen carefully. Consider Paul's self-denial in this. Upon hearing of Paul's extraordinary work among the Gentiles, the leaders of the church in Jerusalem glorified God.

But they said to Paul, we have four men which have a vow on them. Them take and purify thyself with them and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads and all may know that those things whereof they were informed concerning thee are nothing but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, " listen, and keepest the law. Who is the apostle of grace? Who is the apostle to the Gentiles? It's Paul.

Paul could have said strongly, he could have objected and say, For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Couldn't He? It was His right to say that. Jesus' blood bought Him that right. He could have said.

In fact, he could have shouted. He could have shouted at the top of his lungs, stand fast therefore into liberty, wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. What's a yoke of bondage? The Jewish traditions. And what did He just agree to do?

To enter willingly into the yoke of bondage for the eternal souls of men. This is astonishing love for the souls of men. It was his right to say, I'm not doing that. I'm a free man in Jesus. And He would have been right, but He would have been wrong because His purpose was to minister to Jew and Gentile.

He did not use his right. He took it and said it was bought by the blood of Jesus for me, But there are some other people that need him, so I can lay this aside for their sakes. That is the life of Christ burning in the soul of Paul the Apostle. Oh, may it burn in hours. So he shaved his head and took a vow.

Why? That I might gain the more. He loved the souls of his fellow Jews so much, he loved them so much. He said, I have a great heaviness and sorrow, continual sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that myself were accursed, accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. For those under the law, in Paul's mind, He was ready to suffer the agonies of hell.

So what does a couple of rites mean in comparison to that kind of earnest desire for men's souls. A powerful example of Paul's self-denial appears in 2 Corinthians. Paul said that because he preached Christ of the Jews five times received thy forty stripes save one. Five times he endured the penalty of Deuteronomy 25, 2 and 3. Five times he was flogged with an instrument of three leather straps that were doubled over, and a minister of the synagogue would stand over him as he knelt and strike the apostle with all of his might as someone stood and read the Deuteronomy curses.

Theoronomy curses. Thirteen blows to the chest and twenty-six to the back. Five times. Five times. This often killed people.

The reason, at least some commentators say that it's 40 minus 1, is that they were afraid sometimes in the zeal of those that were beating them. If they went further than that, on one hand they might over shame these, but sometimes it killed them. They knew how far many could go. So in this, Paul was truly under the law. This is a curse of the law.

He gave Himself to brutal beatings so that He could see some saved. Paul became flexible for those without law. To them that are without law as being without law. Being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ. That I might gain them that are without law.

By the phrase, without law, Paul did not mean that he lived any way he wanted to as Christ's free man. Paul simply meant that he lived as a Christian under grace when among the heathen instead of living like a Jew under the old covenant. Before Christ saved him, Paul was more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of his father. After Christ saved him, he could say of those traditions, I do count them but dumb, that I may win Christ. Yet he would subject himself to that dumb for the souls of men.

What a great Savior we have. However, he did not want the Corinthians to think that when he said without law, he meant that he lived like a pagan. There are people that almost read that kind of thing in here. He meant that he did not live as if he had Jewish restrictions upon him. He wanted the Corinthians to know that he was completely in submission to Christ.

His understanding of the Christian life was this, circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of the commandments of God. He had Timothy circumcised so that he and Timothy could evangelize Jews, yet he adamantly resisted Titus being circumcised when the Jews demanded it in violation of the gospel. You see, again, what we're looking at is Paul looking at the situation that he's facing. And when he says, now Timothy you and I are gonna go and take the gospel to the Jews. It's gonna be a problem if you're with me.

You need to be circumcised. He laid aside his right. Timothy did the same thing. He laid aside his right and said, Okay, the souls of men are more important than a few days of pain for me. And then on the other side, when Judahizer said, you can believe on Jesus, but you must keep the law of God to be saved.

And this Titus fellow has to be circumcised. Paul stood up and said, no way, it's not going to happen. He meant that he did not live as if he had Jewish restrictions upon him. Now as a side note, let me say something. Paul's statement in this verse is controversial because of a variant in the Greek text.

I won't bore you with all of what that means. But some texts read, under the law, to Christ, and other texts read, under the law of Christ. Now, we don't have time, nor is it the purpose of this message, to enter into the debate between differing views of the law and the life of a believer. But what we can say is this, by either reading, Paul is saying that he was fully submitted to Christ's lordship and to God's Word in every aspect of his life. Every aspect of his life.

So being without law never meant that he lived like a pagan sinner. Right? And we need to understand that. His statement under the law to Christ says it all. Christ was his Lord.

His life's breath was to serve the one who stopped Him on the road to Damascus and said, You're mine. Paul held the highest standards of holy living and he did not sacrifice any of them to win sinners. He didn't sacrifice holiness to win sinners. He did not take part in things that were lawful in and of themselves, indifferent in and of themselves. Excuse me, he did take part in things that were indifferent for the purpose of men being saved.

But he didn't give up the standards of Christ Jesus. That didn't change. So that means he could eat Gentile food. The law would tell him, you can't eat that. But for the sake of the gospel, he would eat that.

He could go into Gentiles' homes. And there were many lawful ways that he could deny himself. Paul became flexible for the weak. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak." Well who are the weak? There's a lot of discussion among commentators there, and I won't bore you with all of the varying views.

I will simply offer this for your consideration. Paul understood the weakness of sinful humanity. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly, the ungodly, the ones without strength. The weak probably represent non-Christians that he is trying to win to the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul understood the depravity of man and could lower himself to sinners of every kind, relating to their sinfulness even as a redeemed sinner.

O wretched man that I am. Paul understood his own sinfulness. He understood his own fleshly weakness. And he could talk to the weak in their bondage to sin and speak the glorious truths that where sin abounds, grace did much more abound. Well, let's consider then Paul the universal man, chapter 9 verse 22b.

He says, I am made all things to all men, having given us these examples, that I might by all means save some. By all means, once again, is qualified. We must read this statement with Holy Spirit enlightenment, with gospel eyes, and with a discerning heart. Some professing Christians use this verse to justify doing worldly things and living lives almost indistinguishable from the lost. Paul's use of the word all must be understood within a biblical context.

Would Paul become an idolater to win idolaters? Would he become a fornicator in order to win fornicators? Would he become a murmurer in order to win murmurers? In the very next chapter, chapter 10, Paul said that when Israel did these things, God destroyed them. He would never live like they live to win them.

Consider further, would Paul become a disobedient son in order to win disobedient children, a prostitute to win prostitutes, a child molester to win child molesters, an adulterer to win adulterers, a transgender to win transgenders, a homosexual to win homosexuals? Very often we pigeon-holed these words so that we can legitimate something we want to do. And That is not what Paul is teaching whatsoever. I lay down my God-given rights so that people may have life. Not I do what I want to do in the name of Jesus and witness.

Now you can do what you think is biblical and take what steps you need to take to win, but you see that's just wanting to do that even though it's a good thing. Paul's not talking about that. He's talking about what it costs to follow Jesus, what we lay down so that others might have life and freedom. That's what he's driving at. Oh, my brethren, Paul says in chapter 10, whether you eat or whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Give none offense, neither to the Jews nor to the Gentiles nor to the church of God, even as I please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many that they may be saved." He just doesn't get off that note because the Corinthians weren't getting it. And I hope we get it. I hope every one of us gets it. And what we see here is both tables of the law. Do everything to the glory of God, first table, and bring no offense to Jew, Gentile, or anybody else.

The second table, love for others. It is gloriously set forth here. Now, The word offense is very, very crucial. It does not mean to hurt or wound somebody's feelings. You offended me with that jacket you bought.

Or to do something that makes them angry. Paul's meaning is this. Do not live in such a way that would block someone from coming to Christ. That's the idea. Don't let anything be in your life God-given rights that would hinder someone else from hearing Christ.

See, what he's saying is, if I sit down with some Gentiles and they put their non-cosure food in front of me and he says, oh, I want to tell you about Jesus but that's like not kosher food, I can't eat that. They might be unbelievably grieved over that. Here we fix this for him. Paul says, no, I'll eat it. I mean I know stories of missionaries, one who told me once that he was sitting there eating at the table, it was a dimly lit room, he was in another country far away, everything was very different to him, it hadn't been out there very long, There was a bowl in the middle of the table.

It looked like grapes, and so he was eating them. He thought they were kind of a strange texture. They were lukewarm, and he really didn't know what it was, but he was kind of glad he couldn't see. And after he'd been eating them for a while, it was one of the few things that he could really handle. The host said, I'm so glad you love our delicacy.

He said, yeah, I like it. He said, well, what is it? Fish eyes. He kept eating. He kept eating.

Just hearing what it was completely seized him with nausea from head to foot, But he kept eating because he understood this. He was not going to put a stumbling block in front of someone. Now Paul's meaning is clear then, at least I trust. We should not use our rights in a way that could cause someone not to hear the gospel. Paul's meaning is this.

The immortal souls of human being are the most precious thing in creation. What shall it profit a man? He shall gain the whole world but lose his own soul. Nothing in this world, all the collections in this world do not compare to the value of a human soul. Don't let your liberties get in the way of a human soul hearing the message that sets men free.

And this is why Paul denied his own apostolic right. It also means do not cause a brother or sister to stumble back in idolatry. It works both ways to the lost and to the saved. This points back to chapter 8, for if any man see thee which hast knowledge, should it meet or should at meet in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols? When ye sin so against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ." Again, Paul's underlying theme is self-denial and loving others, and he's putting this in contrast to knowledge.

There's one true God, and idols are nothing. True. But the souls of Gentiles and souls of Jews are worth more than your rights in understanding that. Now, Paul's motivation. Paul said, And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

All that he does, especially his self-denial, is for the sake of God's gospel of grace in Jesus Christ, the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ. Paul says We don't want to add to it, we don't want to take from it, and we always want to bring that message faithfully to other human beings. And we want to be living so circumspectly that we don't ourselves take our rights and put a stumbling block in front of someone so They can't hear the truth. I mean when the Lord first saved me, my ear was down to here. And I was asked to go preach in churches and I would walk up into the pulpit and I'd see some people in the third or fourth rows with their eyes getting this big.

It was not very cool at that point to have long hair in the pulpit. It's very popular today, but it wasn't then. I went and cut it off. I understood this. It was just like, I don't care.

I want people to hear. Hear or hear. That's the issue. And it's going to be different for you. You know what I face, you may not face, but get the principle, and we're living like Christians.

That's the idea. Christ's gospel, His life, His death, His resurrection was so much more important than His own God-given rights, He was willing to sacrifice any of them and become a slave to all that they might be saved. Now, I want to run ahead a little bit. I want us to get a hold of this. I want to make a few applications.

Let me back up one thing I said is not going to make sense. What I want you to grab along with me is that when Paul says that I might be a partaker thereof with you, most commentators believe that he's saying that I, along with you, share in the glories and the beauties of the gospel. And that certainly may be what he means there. But on the other hand, there are those who think that there's something more profound here. And I simply offer to you for your thinking, your careful thought.

What some hear Paul saying is, if I stop denying myself, if I stop loving the souls of others as I've been commissioned, if I stop becoming all things to all men, when all is said and done, I may prove false and my testimony empty. Not that he loses salvation but that he never had it. Well, It will be a good afternoon discussion for some. Let's get to the applications and the first thing I want you to grant me is I usually put applications in the forms of declarations or statements, propositions, but I want to put all these in questions. Number one, are you, am I, are you denying your God-given rights so that others may come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Now ask yourself a hard question. Do you Use the name of Christ and liberty in Christ to pursue worldly things that attract your heart and simply try to legitimize them in the name of Jesus. Now I don't know that about you. You don't know that about me. But the Lord knows.

So each of us needs to deal with the Lord on that one. Number two, the idea of gospel-driven flexibility Is your idea of gospel-given flexibility causing you to be more earthly-minded or more heavenly-minded? If you say, yes, I'm doing this so that others will be saved, is the end result of doing that, making you more heavenly minded, more in love with Christ, more hungry for the souls of others, or are you becoming more like those in the world? Do you have to fill your mind with every sort of ungodliness to be able to witness to others? Is your idea that you must fill your head with every vile film that Hollywood vomits up in order to be a good witness?

Or listening to defiling music? Now Paul's idea here would be, I'll do whatever is within the scope of Scripture if I thought it would help someone come to Christ, but within the scope of Scripture under the law to Christ. That's the qualifier. Is your idea of gospel-driven flexibility making the people you minister... Now, we're going to change it just a little bit.

It's like the previous question, but is your idea of gospel-driven flexibility making the people you minister to? I'm doing this, so they'll get saved. All right? Are they getting saved? Or are you just spending more time hanging with them?

Are they being transformed by the message you're bringing and the life you're living, The life of God in the soul of man, is that what they're seeing? And is it drawing them out of darkness into the glorious gospel light? Or are you just getting cooler? Is your idea of gospel-driven flexibility producing in you, producing in you Christ-like self-denial and the denial of your God-given rights, even to personal hurt so that others will be saved. That's what Paul's teaching, and that's what we have to get.

So Paul could change some of his practices, but never the gospel, never the message. He could adapt himself, but never the glorious truth that saved men's souls. As far as possible, Paul accommodated himself for the gospel of his hearers, or he accommodated himself for the gospel to be brought effectively to his hearers, and becoming all things to all men that we might win some to our Lord Jesus Christ means denying our God-given rights in order not to hinder anyone from coming to Jesus. May we all take Paul's lesson and live in it with all of our hearts. And may I say to every one of us here, may we look to Jesus Christ, the one who really sets people free, and live.

Amen. The National Center for Family Integrated Churches is dedicated to proclaiming the sufficiency of scripture for church and family life, and to the establishment of biblically ordered churches. For more information, resources, and products, please visit our website at www.ncfic.org. Ncfic.org You